Prince Charles tries to burnish his image with a TV documentary -- but his candor startles the nation

The moment everyone had been waiting for came about halfway through the show. Television journalist Jonathan Dimbleby was asking Prince Charles about his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, the woman long rumored to be his mistress. The prince's face assumed the pained intensity of someone suffering from an acute intestinal disorder. Speaking in his characteristically elliptical sentences, Charles stammered that Parker Bowles was an old friend who was "helpful and understanding" during his marriage crisis.

Dimbleby persisted: "Were you faithful and honorable to your wife when you took on the vow of marriage?" "Yes," Charles answered, then paused before adding, "until...